Fish-ladder.



A. J. COLLAR.

FISH LADDER.

I I APPLICATION FILED AUG. 5, 1912. 1,2,1 9;

Patented Dec. 23, 1913.

J Z4 BY Z mi- AVITORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT ounce;

ADONIRAM J. COLLAR, OF YREKA, CALIFORNIA.

FISH-LADDER.

Specification of Letters Patent,

Patented Dec. 23, 1913.

A Application filed August 5, 191-2. Serial No. 713,504.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ADONIRAM J. COLLAR, acitizen of the United States, residing at Yreka', in the county ofSiskiyou and State of California, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Fish- Ladders, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to a' fish ladder.

The object of the invention is to provide a fish ladder which will besimple, substantial and reliable in construction and which will permitthe fish to pass in either direction from one body of water to anotherwhere these are located on different levels.

controlling, the current flow through the tube and in providingautomatic controlling means which open and close a series of lock gatesto the tube.

It also comprises which will be more an explained by refon the line X- Xof Fig. 4, showing the valve or lock gate construction. Fig. 6 is erenceto the accompanying drawings, in which I i Figure '1 is a plan viewshowing a portion of the dam and fish ladder in position. Fig. 2 is avertical section through the dam.

Fig. 3 is a cross-section ofthe valve actuating tank. Fig. 4 is anenlarged plan view showing the valve operating mechanism. Fig. 5 isacross section of the pipe a cross-section of same. Fig. 7 is anenlarged detail view of the end of the crank arm. i H

This invention relates. to a fish ladder of the lock system type, usinga pipe or tune instead of an open canal; the object being to allow thefish to pass';through the tube eitherone way or another from a higherlevel of water, like the 'up stream side of a dam, as A, to the'l'owerlevel of the river or creek-bed below, indicated at B, orvice versa. Apipe as 0 connecting with a higher water level and a lowone would havesuch a current flow through it that no fish could go up,and a very largequantity of water wouid'go to waste. To avoid an excessive flow of waterthrough the pipe I have provided a pair of valves or look gates, as 2permit the passage of fish through.

details of construction employ any common form of a valve, mechanicallyoperated at suitable time intervals, which may be mounted either inhorizontal' or vertical position, so that they will not swing shut oftheir own weight,

Referring to Figs. 5- and 6 of the drawand- 3. It will be understoodthat I 'may i ings, a practically constructed'lock gate or valve isshown, which consists of a seat or body portion 4, suitablysecured byrivets 5,

or like means, to the pipe C. 'This is provided with a suitable opening6 adapted to be closed by a valve 7 secured to a shaft i or pivot 8,mounted'on the seat portion of the valve, and which extends out throughthe pipe G through a stufling box 9. The

upper end of the shaft 8 is provided with a crank arm l0,which isengaged by a suitable operating mechanism (hereinafter to be described);to open or close the valve 7 'at' suitable. time intervalsr The valve 7is provided with a relief opening 11 which is opened just prior to theopening of the valve 7 for the purpose of relieving the valve proper ofany undue pressure at the moment that this is tobe opened.

The operation of the relief valve and opening of the valve proper willbe as follows: The shaft 8 is providedwith an arm 12 which swings inunison with the shaft 8 and the operating crank or rocker arm 10 on theoutside of the pipe. When the crank arm 10 is moved from one side toanother to open alock ate, the arm 12 will swing with the shaft. Thefirstmovement of the arm 12 will act to uncover the relief open- ,ing 11in the valve proper, thus releasing any undue pressure on same. Afurther movement of the arm 12 will bring the outer end of the same inposition in a U-shaped bracket 13, secured to the valve 7 where it willengage this and move the valve 7 into an open position, shown by dottedlines as 14:, Fig. 4... i l

It will be understoodthat in order to avoid a strong current flowthrough the pipe, it will be necessary to hold one of the gate locks ina closed position, and in order to admit the passage of fish through thepipe it. will be necessary to open and close the gates at suitable timeintervals, so as to admit the fish to pass from one lock to another inthe tube, while passing through If the fish enterthe tube while thelower lock gate is closed, they are restrained SELHIB.

from going farther, but this will open at a vent the fish from returningby the lower valve as this is closed; The fish prevented from going backwill thus pass on through the upper gate andwill escape through theupper portion of the pipe into the dam.

In applying this fish ladder or lock system, using a pipe instead of anopen canal, it is obvious thatthe fish may pass either way through theconduit. One valve being closed will stop an excessive current flowthrough the pipe. 7

In installing a fish ladder of this kind it may be constructed of apipe, a tunnel, or any suitable conduit, through which the fish may passfrom one water level to another,

" and it will be'understood that this conduit may pass through, over, oraround the bank or dam.

Any suitable number of light openings or windows, as 15, may be placedin the side or top of the tube; the number to be regulated by the sizeand length of same.

From the foregoing description it is understood that one of the lockgates is always 1' closed. This would, practically speaking,

sb entirely prevent any current flow through.

the pipe. 5

In order to induce fish to enter the pipe or conduit, it' is necessaryto allow a current flow through the conduit. This current flow 40iscreated by providing a by-pass around the valves and through the"valves, which bypass consists of a pipe 16 connected at each end as 17and 18, with the portions of the pipe extending. from eitherside of thelock chamber. The upper end of thepipe 16 is jprovided with'a. valve 19,and is provided with an extension rod. 20 and a hand-wheel,

by which the amount of water passing through the by-pa'ss may becontrolled from the bank In order to produce a certain amount of currentflow within the lock chamber of the ladder, I have shown it as providedwith a connection 21 and a discharge outlet 22,

which will allow a certain amount-of water to pass through the lockchamber. The same results may be produced by providing the lock gateproper with small openings which will allow a certain amount of wa- Ater to pass through, producing a slight our;

rent flow through the pipe; or the same result may be produced byallowing a slight leakage around the lock gate seats. However, the lastnamed means can only be used 5 where the Water level between the twobodies is not too great; any variation in water level causing too muchpressure woulded together by cross arms 26. This slide frame isappropriately mounted for reciprocation in suitable bearings 27 securedto the conduit G. The rod 24 is provided with a lug 24' and rod 25 witha lug 25, which lugs are so positioned on the frame with relation to thecrank arms 10 on the lock gates that when the frame is reciprocated bymeans hereinafter to be described, the lug 25 will first engage thecrank arm 10 and close the upper lock gate before lug 24 engages withthe crank arm 10 to open the lower lock gate. The lugs after closing theupper gate and opening the lower gate will 'slip by the crank arms andpass on as far as they can be carried by the slide frame, The outer endsof the crank arms 10 are provided with spring-actuated, pivotallymounted dogs 10 which are held in normal position by a. pair of springs10. The gate actuated by the crank arrn is thrown into complete open orclosed position, as shown in Fig. .4, before the crank arm is movedcompletely out of the path of the lug 25. The spring-supported dog 10will yield sufficiently to permit the lug to pass and will immediatelyspring back into normal position, being forced back by thepressure ofone or the other of the springs 10". The crank arm is thus always inposition to be actuated by the lug 25 and is never movedv into aposition where it would be out of the path of the lug. It can be seen byreferring to Fig. 4, that the lugs 24 and 25 move much farther than isactually necessary to open and close the gates. The idle move.- ment ofthe lugs, after having actuated the gates, is for the purpose of leavingthe valves in their respective open and closed position for somelittletime before they are moved again. This time interval may represent anytime, as 5 or 10 fminutes. The

actual time consumed in closing one gate andopening the other may berepresented .b two or three minutes. This slow method 0 opening andclosing the valves will not scare the fish and eliminates all danger ofcatching and crushing them in the gates consists of a tank 28, in whichis mounted afloat 29, suitably secured as'at 30 to a centrally pivotedarm 31, which is also provided with a weight 32 at its opposite end. Thetank 281s adapted to be filled with wa ter through a pipe 33 connectedwith any I suitable source of supply, and is provided with a valve 34 bywhich the inflow of water to the tank may be controlled to increase ordecrease thetime interval consumed in filling the tank, which timeinterval may represent the sliding movement of the frame in onedirection; movement being transmitted through a crank arm 35 and link36, which is. secured to the slide frame at 37 the crank arm 35 beingsuitably secured toa shaft 38 appropriately journaled in bearings 39';the crank arm 35 and centrally fulorumed lever 31 being conlever .41.

neotedor otherwise secured to the shaft 38, so that any movement of' thefloat 29 will transmit motion through the lever, shaft and crank arm vto reciprocate-the slide frame. The tank is also provided with adischarge pipe 39'controlled by a valve 40, which is secured to apivoted and weighted edge will engage with the outer end 44 of thefulcrumed lever 43. This lever is provided with a guide-way or trackportion 45 in which is placed a ball 46, or like rolling weight, sopositioned that when the lever 43 is raised above a horizontal line bythe rising of the float 29, the weight will immediately roll to theopposite end of the lever 'f 3and cause this to assume the positionindicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3'. The sudden tilting of the levercaused by the rising of the tank and the movement of the weight 46.fromone end to the other causing-the lever 43 to be instantly rocked intoits opposite position, will cause the inner end of the lever 43 toengage with a head 47 on the end of the rod 42 and lift thissufficientlyto raise the valve 40 from its seat and allow the water inthe tank toescape through the discharge pipe 39.

slide frame, which movement opens the upper gate and closes the lowergate. The lowering of the float29 to a certain position within the tankwill cause this to engage with a suspended rod 49, secured on the innerend of the lever-43. The suspended rod 49 is provided with a hookportion at its lower end with which the tank will engage, causing thelever 43 to be rocked into the position shown in full lines in Fig. 3,which will cause the weight 46 to roll back as shown. The lever 41, uponwhich is secured e. 40, is-provided with a weight 52 for th'e purpose ofbalancing the rod 42, so

in full lines in Fig. 3. Tt will then be in- The opposite end of thelever is.

opening the valve when the float 29 is ris-' ing, or until the lever 43is rocked, for the purpose of opening the same.

In operation the conduit or pipe C is laid on or near the bottom of thecreek or riverbed, close up against the lower side of the dam, with itslower end opening at right angles to the flow of the stream with theconduit laid crosswise of the stream as shown in Fig. 1, and its openend laid in the eddy close to the dam. Fish will have very littletrouble when nosing around the lower side of the dam to find theentrance to the pipe. If they enter while the lower lock is closed, theyare restrained from going farther, but this will open at a suitable timeinterval, and allow the fish to pass up the tube to the secondlock. Thewater passing through thetube, caused by the by-pass connect-ions, willcause them to remain in v the tube while attempting to go up against thecurrent. The lower gate or valve will then close after a suitable timeinterval, or a moment before the upper valve opens this will momentarilyinclose the fish between the two gates, but only until the upper gateopens; they will then have a free passage through the upper end of thepipe and will escape into the dam.

It will be understood'that the slight cur rent flow through the pipe forthe purpose of inducing or luring fish up the conduit may beaccomplished in different ways, and I do not wish to limit myself to thespecific construction here shown. Any convenient means which willallow..a mild current to pass through the body of the conduit may beemployed.

The fish ladder is practical, substantial, prompt and reliable in itsactions, and takes less space than common fish ladders heretoforeemployed. The materials and finish of the several parts are such asexperience and judgment of the manufacturer may dictate.

I wish it understood that various changes in form, proportions and minordetails of construction may be resorted to within the scope of theappended claims, and that I do not wish to limit myself to the specificdesign and construction hereshown.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is 1. In a fish ladder an open ended pipe having itslower portions substantially parallel with the face of the dam andsubmerged in the water of the lower level, said pipe being curvedthrough the dam with its upper end n the water of the upper level,shafts and gates within the pipe, exterior rocker arms on the shafts, aslide frame, and contact lugs carried by the frame and engaging therockerarms to successively open and close the gates.

2. In .a fish ladder, an open ended pipe connecting the Waters of upperand lower levels, gates disposed at a distance apart Within the pipe,gate shafts having exterior rocker arms, slidable frames having lugsdisposed to successively engage the rocker arms and open the ates, andmeans to automatically actuate t e slidable frames.

3. In a fish ladder, an open ended pipe connection. .betWeen Waters ofdifferent levels, gates mounted upon shafts Within the shafts, a slideframe With lugs adapted to engage the rocker arms, one after the otherto open the gates at suitable intervals, and mechanism actuated by theflow of water to reciprocate the slides. 1 i

4:.The combination with a fish ladder I having alternately opening andclosing gates mounted upon shafts with rocker arms and a slidable'frame, With lugs to engage the my hand in the presence of twosubscribing Witnesses.

- ADONIRAM J. COLLAR. Witnesses:

G. J. LU'i'rRELL, A. H. PAsHBURG.

